Mind Mage - Chapter 2

      I stepped off a white stone path and onto the first granite step leading up to my front door. I stopped to inhale deeply; it always smelled so good to be home. Out of a long ingrained habit, I felt for the shields on my property. Even though they were tied into Idiofyllia itself, any protection could still be chipped or develop small unnoticed cracks. Satisfied that all was well, I took the other two steps up and opened the huge purple metal door, rubbing my hand on the snakeskin embellishments showing my status as a Magus Drakos �" more vanity. “I’m home!” I sent out to the inhabitants. As expected, several creatures appeared in the front foyer immediately. I pet or hugged each and then excused myself. Rather than walk my way through the house, I simply shifted myself to the beacon tower. No one could see what I had done so it was safe to take the short cut; it would only register on the Grid as Mage activity within my own demesne, nothing unusual or illegal. Not that shifting within a building was wrong or illegal in any way but it was mostly unsafe and I liked to keep a few secrets about my abilities to myself. As the beacon room shifted into being around me, I immediately went to the first window on my left. I had made my beacon tower such that the light went out from just below every window in the octagonal room, allowing me to look out without blocking the beacon or having to deal with the bright light hitting my eyes. Even in Dream Time, I am sensitive to bright light. Go figure.

      “Northeast, about a grid length away.” Bobby’s thoughts always felt bubbly to me. Maybe my mind had done that because of his name, or maybe because he scored slightly higher than his brother on the Rochefort Happiness Scale; I don’t know or care. It simply made telling the two of them apart much easier. I turned to the next window on my right. Sure enough, there was a small castle-style dwelling just a ten minute walk from my own property, right up against my neighbor’s demesne. “I wonder what Doogie thinks of having a new neighbor?” Bringing the tiny castle into focus, I concentrated on the pathway someone had made up to the front door and felt for their line of defense. As soon as I had a safe spot on the path chosen, I made the existing path travel to it. I was amused by the fact that the further the new path traveled from my demesne, the more it shifted from my wide walkway of carefully selected white pebbles to nothing more than a thin wearing in the grass between the thick trees of Pa Forest.

      A hurried walk later, I stood at the edge of the new Mage property. “Hello?” I called. A head appeared on the rooftop. I could see a soft cloud of bright red curls surrounding a pale face. “May I enter?” I shouted up to her. She called down something with the tone of a question but I couldn’t hear the words. “Needs verbal projection training” I thought to the Twins. Aloud, I called up with added volume, “It’s Vincos Hargrove!” I hoped I was answering her request. It was very possible that she didn’t recognize my semblance of a middle-aged woman with a more trim body and dark auburn hair. Go ahead; call me vain but I could have chosen to look even younger or more formidable. “Either drop your defenses or come down here, please!” The shields shimmered in front of me and then reformed before I could take a step. “Also needs work on shields,” I sent. I could tear through the protection field easily but chose instead to wait to see what the novice mage would do.

      A couple minutes later, a teenaged girl with the red halo of curls came dashing out the front door. “I’m sorry,” she called as she ran to meet me. “My shields won’t go down for any length of time yet.” She was out of breath when she reached a spot on the path on the other side of the faint glimmer.

      “This is not Real Time,” I reminded her. “You are not winded from running down here. All I need is your CIC so your demesne can be registered.”

      The teen took a quick breath and panted out her citizen identification code. “Deep breath,” I said to her, while sending her information, adding “Needs breathing exercises.” to Kellen and the boys. “Okay,” I concentrated on the girl again. “You can choose to work on your property or you can wake and take a break. Your choice, but I’d recommend making that pond deeper.” I indicated a large puddle to the right of the building. “And get those shields under control.” With that, I jogged into the forest again until I was sure I could shift back to my front door to wait for the next instructions from the twins or Kellen.

      I no sooner had the tower room in place when Kellen sounded in the room. “We had four, uh, now five, pop up while you were out. Want me to come over?”

      I sighed. Registering newbies is always a long, draining task and the more people that can help, the happier I am. “Yes, please. Concentrate on me, Kellen, and I’ll pull you in.” I mentally made an image of Kellen standing next to my southeast window. I imagined his tall, muscular build and the strong European heritage in his face, hidden behind the closely cropped mustache and beard. I saw the straw blond hair cut close to his head and his brilliant blue-green eyes which seemed to be laughing all the time. The man might be just under fifty but he looked closer to thirty, in Real Time and in Gamescape, one of those few who chose to use their real life appearance in the Game. My guts twisted slightly as he shimmered into being. The stronger the Mage, the more difficult it was to pull them through realities, even when they wanted to come.

      Kellen’s face showed a twinge of nausea for a moment and then he was fine. “Okay, I brought the co-ordinates for two of them with me. We have our work cut out for us. I think there was another blip on the Spiro just as I put on my interface. I think we may have a really good bunch this time.” One thing I appreciated about Kellen was he was all business when it was required. “How about you take the one about sixteen Grid lines out from between your southwest and west windows, somewhere near Torval? I’ll take the one almost to the eastern Wall and then I’ll work from my place.” Kellen waited for my nod before turning to the necessary window to find his target.

      Torval? It was unusual for a new mage to be so close to another Corp’s central territory. I shifted out to the West Tower of my place to get a better view. It wasn’t really a tower so much as a taller section of the house. From the huge window in the West Tower, I scanned across two of The Grid sections into the area known unofficially as Delta Territory. Delta Fuels and Alternative Energy had been the megacorporation which owned the small tech company that Miracle worked for when he designed the Game. DeltaFAE Mages often took the attitude that they owned the whole Grid rather than just the area around Turval where most of them congregated. Looking across distances in Gamescape is rather like looking through a lens that keeps bringing the area into better focus until you mentally stop it. Or like using the satellite views of Earth to find a Corp compound and then honing onto a specific building. Sure enough, I found a new turris. ‘Why do these newer teachers insist on building towers first?’ I wondered for the millionth time. The few times I had worked with Tiros (energy-workers who wanted to be trained as Mages) I had them recreate their childhood home in Dreamscape. It is a much simpler concept to start with and is easier for the less talented to build. Besides, building the residence is not the requirement to become a Magus Electos, but being able to defend the property is.

      I brought the turris into focus, noting that it was close to Hong Lung’s demesne in the Isimi Province. I wondered, as I chose a spot to land, if this was a magical student of his. Hong Lung was the only other Mage to attain the rank of Magus Drakos. He was a solitary man who rarely took on beginners of any sort, preferring instead to do Game training with Agapos or Kerdos Mages, but he was known to still take strong magic-workers under his protection. All of us senior Mages were responsible for doing some type of training throughout the year between the more important competitions, the only exception being the last few months before the Universal Games when even we senior levels were busy with strenuous training.

      I landed hard on my pebbled path. ‘A split mind leads to split knees’ was one of my favorite sayings to my students and I’d just proven it. I had always had a tendency to let my thoughts wander, which led to a diagnosis of Attention Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder in school as a young child. I preferred to think of myself as a kinetic being whose mind was as active as my body liked to be. I straightened my robes unnecessarily and called out, “Rocky!” A gigantic eagle shimmered into existence in front of me. Rocky riffled his back feathers and scowled back at me over his shoulder. Well, to me it always seems that he scowls but that’s probably just due to the ridge of black feathers that run above his red-orange eyes in sharp contrast to the rest of his silvery body.

      “We just have a short hop over to Delta Region,” I explained as I stepped to his side and scratched under the edge of one wing. “You want to fly me there or should I ask Windsong?” Rocky’s strong beak snapped down and gripped me by the shoulder of my shirt. I was surprised to notice that somewhere in the past few seconds I had changed into a soft, buttoned shirt and blue jeans. “Alright, stop that!” I scolded him. “I knew you’d want to go. That’s why I called you first.” I pulled on an image of Rocky’s harness until it sat in my hands then fit it into place physically. The huge bird shifted his weight so that I could clamber onto his back and settle myself behind his head. I sent him the image of the turris I had seen and he lifted off with a few quick flaps of his wings. So much for my tidy braid.

      In no time to speak of, we arrived on the edge of the marshland that stretched down to the Verbo Sea. I slid back to the ground and gave Rocky a hunk of meat from the pouch attached to the waist of my jeans. “Do a little hunting if you want,” I reached up to scratch just under his orange beak. “Just stay close so I can move on to the next spot quickly. And stay off Delta properties.” As I worked my way across the fen to the thin tower, I looked about for signs of life. Sure enough, peering out of the small opening in the turret was an older man with what used to be termed Asian features. Hmmm, was he an energy-worker who hadn’t wanted to reveal himself before now, or someone with latent talent? A recent ruling by the CoMM no longer allowed anyone over the age of 25 to apply to the Mage program. Why had he waited until the last opportunity to join? I’d know that answer soon enough. I sent Bobby and Mike a request to note down my curiosity. “Hello?” I called up. Here we go again, I thought to myself.

      It took a little while to convince the elderly gentleman to allow me access and to give me his Ident Code. I spent some time inspecting his turris at his request and suggested that he add more living space at the base plus create a natural water source on his property before taking a break. Once a Mage starts creating or attracting familiars, the demesne has to be able to house them. Some familiars are quite happy living in the wild, outside of a dwelling, but even they need the landscape of the demesne adjusted to their needs. A natural water source on the property is another thing I require of all my Tiros, as well as an open area and at least one tree. Actually any energy-workers or Tiros I work with are taught to find a spot with some view of the sky, create a tree, attract a water source, and only then to build a house, in that order.

      By the time I had logged in five more students, I needed a quick break. Any form of energy-work requires plenty of water, electrolytes, and carbohydrates. I sent Rocky back to his aerie with another tidbit of meat. “Kellen,” I sent in the direction he had last gone. “I’m going Real for a drink. Back in a short bit.” I felt his understanding waft back to me. He must be concentrating hard on some student or on journeying. Kellen Dorsey had been my teaching assistant for a couple years now so I knew he would also spend a little time evaluating each student’s demesne. I was about to focus on Real Time, when Mike’s laconic tone sounded in my head. “Vincos, we have an incongruity.” “On my way out,” I sent back.

      The weight of Reality settled around me and I pulled my interface helmet off. “What anomaly?” I reached for my water bottle and accepted an energy bar from Mike.

      The twins exchanged a look and then shrugged. “Did you count how many students are in the classroom?” I heard in my head.

      “Not really. Twenty, I think. Why?”

      “There were twenty-one. Nineteen now, because two left after being registered. We have eighteen registrations of activity plus two more which are in progress so we should be looking for only one more blip. We just found three, and every one of them are out past the Edges.”

      My mind ran through the information: three, when there should only be one blip, and all of them outside of Game boundaries. “Are you sure they’re our students?” Both boys gave me a raised left eyebrow. “No, of course not. That’s what Kellen and I are doing.” I thought a moment. “Double-check that the activity notice of ProGlobal Electos registration is clearly in place to rule out another Corp using The Grid.” Another disgusted look. “Sorry, should have known you’d’ve done that already.” I took a long swig from my water container. “Okay, get me the coordinates as exact as you can.” I shoved the last of the bar into my mouth and took a long drink. “Oh, and make certain CoMM knows that I’m going Out.”

      As I pulled my helmet back into place, I considered the implications. Dreamscape is as limitless as the universe or the human imagination. Ezekiel Maracle, known best by his hacker handle of Zee Miracle or now as The Miracle Mage, used his knowledge of mage abilities as well as his computer programming skills to construct the interface with magical or psychic abilities and thus created The Mind Mage Virtual Reality Game. Despite being in the employ of a Delta Fuels subsidiary, Miracle had convinced their management that The Game was too big for any one Corporation to control and that it should be sold to the Universal Games Organization for a huge profit. Universal Games is the only Corp that sets itself apart from world politics and presently owns the rights to all official sports and games guaranteeing neutrality in any Corp competitions. When Miracle sold the idea of The Game to the Elite Ten, every recognized competitive Mind Mage player was required to move their demesnes into the sixteen by nine Game Grid, the outer boundaries of which are known as the Confines or the Edges. There were thirty original Alpha-testers; I’m the only one still in the Game. My own demesne, which is a sizeable hundred and five Lots, sits southwest of Centreville in County Pa Forest. Each region translates to the size of a large county or metropolitan city in Real Time so hundreds of Mages could easily exist side by side in a section, and do so in the Corp centrals. With a hundred and forty-four regions or essentially over five hundred thousand Lots, there should never be a need to build outside of the confines. Claiming space on The Edges is allowed, but only within very strict rules. I hadn’t known that the Spirograph could even read outside of the Game Grid. How far Out did CoMM monitor? And why were they keeping track of out there anyway?

      The Game is essentially a computerized version of Capture the Flag with Mages as the players and no teams. Well, we do have teams but since there can only be one winner, it’s more like temporary alliances. At the start of a major competition, every Mage sets a Game token or a “not participating” sign on their demesne shields. Only Mages of Agapos rank or higher are allowed to compete but all other Mages must demark their demesne to avoid losing them. Then each Mage sets out to capture tokens. When two Mages meet, their familiars battle one-on-one until one Mage loses or submits. The Game is a test of not only strength of imagination and will, but of stamina, since competitions could potentially, and often do, last for many days. The winning Mage then adds a losing Mage’s token plus any tokens captured by the loser to their own collection. If a Mage simply bows out, thereby removing themselves from the Game competition, they only have to give up their own token, getting to keep the tokens they had captured. That strategy will help a Mage keep some sense of honor when facing a much stronger or capable Mage. By the time the Game gets down to the last dozen or so Mages, the hide-and-seek part of the game has been abandoned and everyone has moved onto The Great Plains, an area out on the east side of The Grid near Nong Chang Shi. The Great Plains is exactly as it suggests: a region under the control of Universal Games comprised of about four thousand Lots of grassland dotted with trees and split by creeks and two small rivers. There are few places to shelter or hide so every confrontation means battle or concede. All formal challenge battles, whether individual or inter-Corp, take place on The Great Plains. When only one Mage remains on Grid, the Game is done and tokens are retrieved through corporate negotiations.

      “Give me your best estimate of the coordinates, boys. Pick the weakest one first because that’s probably the student. Try to get me as close to them as possible.” Most times a Mage moves onto The Grid by going to their own demesne or to an open area that they know well. IT techs are trained how to place a Mage straight onto any Lot in the Grid if need be, but only from Reality. It is possible to use your Corp techs to transfer you from place to place in a competition but the shift from Grid to Reality and back again in a short time causes undue stress to a Mage’s mind and body. If used too often, the tactic could exhaust a Mage causing them to make grievous errors which could result in a loss of familiars or worse yet, the loss of one’s own mind.

      “Actually, since you just did an Out-and-In, it might be best to work from the Kalos’ demesne. He will meet you at his doorstep since he is just finishing up a registration. We only told him you needed his help and the use of his demesne.”

      It had been a while since I had been to Kellen’s demesne. I visualized the evening-blue cottage with brilliant white shutters, bracketed by a gigantic oak and an almost equally huge ash. The trees anchored me better than the cottage. I brought them into focus and shifted to where I could see both their lengths fully. As the Gamescape region of Tir Ferma came into view, I realized I had left myself quite a hike to his place. “Kellen,” I sent out. “Are you home yet?” No answer. He was obviously still with a student or in transit. I would have to get there on my own.

      “Windsong!” I called. The brilliant white pegasus shimmered into being an arm’s length away. By old measurements, Windsong stood about sixteen and a half hands high, a good height for riding but still statuesque enough to be commanding. Her white coat had an iridescent translucence that hinted at her magical nature, which was compounded by her silvery mane and tail. I had originally wanted to name her Moonsong but she quickly dismissed that name. I reached into my ever present pouch and pulled out a golden Idunna apple. “Want to fly or run?” She nickered and leaned in for the treat; I lifted it away from her reaching lips. “Which? Your choice.” I had learned my lesson the hard way: each and every time you require the services of a pegasus, they must consent or they have the freedom to choose where to go once you are on horseback. “We’re just going down the road to Kellen’s demesne but then after that we have to go Out.” The magical horse’s head snapped up so that her one golden brown eye was staring directly down at me. “I know, Sweetie, but it has to be done.”

      “Run for now, fly later,” Windsong snatched at the apple which I held out, palm open.

      Out of habit, I remembered her bridle and reins into existence and then when I had actually harnessed her, we trotted down the wide trail. I knew the way to Kellen’s place from almost every angle. Up ahead, there would be a magical tree that always had enough ripe fruit for one familiar feeding. No matter what hungry familiar you had on your hands, there would be exactly what they needed on a branch overhanging the road. Any other fruits on the tree were a trap. I had heard of a few greedy Mages disappearing once they stepped off the trail. It was rumored that the boggy ground swallowed them up whole so that the tree could feed.  ‘Are you hungry?” I asked my dearest mount. “We could ask the tree for another Idunna apple if you want?” Windsong just shook her head. She was always reticent, allowing me time to chatter or think as I needed, as long as I didn’t talk to myself inside my own head. As we cantered by the strange tree, my mind went back to the puzzle of activity outside the Edges, at least one of which had to be a student. I wondered what Kellen would make of the news.